Lamented Demise
by On Ebony Wings
Summary: Johnny seems to have slept for the first time in a while, and when he does his dreams are far worse for him than they have been in the past. How is it that Todd is in them? Responces Continuation.
1. Sleep: A Waste of Time?

Lamented Demise

_This title is excessively random. It's my screenname on Livejournal and I couldn't think of anything better, so until I get some ideas (or some feedback in the form of suggestions) It's going to remain titled as such. I'm more prone to naming things after they're written anyway..._

Sleep; A Waste of Time?

The screams echoed through the night, but for once they did not belong to those beneath the heaven house. No, on this night it was the owner. His darkened face with its deep circles beneath his eyes. (Which honestly made him seem rather raccoon-like.) Those wide, dark eyes that could shine brightly while their owner was excited. Why had the thin male screamed? Why had he allowed such a tortured exclamation to be released from him? Nightmares. He was plagued by them. Dearest Johnny C. claimed that sleep was a waste of time (which it was, and still is if we are utterly honest with ourselves), but the true reason why he never slept was because he was afraid. Eventually his body and mind would begin to wear down, he could truly only go for two days without -any-sleep. If he got an hour or so he could go for about a week without so much as a cat nap. It was truly amazing how the body could learn to adapt. This night, which was nearly over, Johnny had managed to get three hours of sleep. That was why he awoke in such a state. His dreams were disturbing, even more so after a dream interpreter (who did not linger long on this world after his introduction to Nny) informed him in passing that one could not die in one's dreams, just as one could not be injured. How was this a disturbing factor? Certainly it was disturbing, especially so if one knew the nature of his dreams. It was the dream of being chased with a more frightening, twisted twist. All the people he had ever harmed liked to resurface in his dreams. If other people tormented him in life, it was nothing compared to the way they treated him in death. They taunted, teased, their mutilated forms screaming, following him wherever he went. In Johnny's dreams they killed him, over and over. Perhaps that was what had spawned his theory that he was invincible. In one dream, one in particular that stood out, a man who had apologized, conversed with Johnny, a man who had been civil. (So civil that Johnny had gone to so much effort as to make the man a sandwich to serve as a last meal in a way...) The man had cornered Johnny, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "You can't die NNY, and neither can we. Not again. You've killed us all and the rest hold it against you..." He had uttered those words, and then his head somehow managed to fall off. NNY had been a bit wary of people for a few days after, and he could not help but wonder if that man had been right. He had certainly seemed to die...

This night particularly was different than all those before. The man that had spoken to him was there again, but he was inside out. His head was mounted upon a pole. A large sign was posted beneath him reading 'Traitor'. Johnny had always started his dreams in Squee's house. His former 'friend' had been mounted in Squee's yard. They had meant for him to see it. They had meant for him to see the man dead, as he said that he couldn't be. Another thing, this perhaps being what had happened to cause him to scream so much more than usual. Tonight, Squee had been tied beneath the body, he was crying and struggling to reach Shmee who lay upon the grass before him, just out of reach. Why was this disturbing? Why did this bother him any more than any other dreams?

Simply because, Johnny never dreamed of the living.

_Yay for the conclusion of chapter 1. I really need to get a life. I seriously doubt that I'm going to get any Reviews for this or Wonderland : My Anti-Drug, but it's worth a shot. Besides, it's something to distract me from necessary things... Like actual work...XP Oh, and this is short. Just in case you couldn't figure that out for yourself... Heh_


	2. Shmee: Bear of Doom

Shmee; Bear of Doom

_Two Reviews! I feel so loved 3 Anyway, due to a mix of popular demand and the fact that I was kinda' working on the second chapter anyway, here it is._

_As for this title, I just wanted it to involve Shmee... Because Shmee is awesome...in a derranged-evil-absorbing-bear kind of way..._

"Should I go check on him?" Johnny asked himself aloud, his teeth biting at his lower lip.

"Of course you should." Responded a familiar voice.

"You don't know what I'm talking about Nailbunny."

"Of course I do NNY. You should go check on Todd." Johnny blinked a few times, his expression quizzically examining the tiny floating rabbit head.

"It's creepy when you're psychic." Johnny stated blandly as he started downstairs (he had fallen asleep upon the floor near the basement door.)

"You keep forgetting that I'm part of you..."

"I'm going to check on Squee." NNY said simply, ignoring the rabbit's final remarks. Just because it was true didn't mean that he had to acknowledge it. If nothing else, that was a reason -not- to acknowledge it.

It was an interesting thing, to see Johnny this upset. His expression and exhausted eyes were filled with concern. His little neighbor was the closest thing he had to a friend, a human one at least. "If they've hurt him..." He began, but he didn't finish. He couldn't. He did not consider the fact that the dead would have harmed Squee, the poor innocent Squee. He seemed incapable of accepting this more or less because he did not believe in the possibility that ghosts would be capable of physically harming Squee. Heh, perhaps -that- was why he began running mm? ((That being a bit of irony there, because it was stated that he did not believe that they could hurt him, yet still NNY ran out of concern...Just a little author's note for the sake of me thinking that I would not be clear)) He sprinted through the tunnel that had been dug, exceptionally thankful that he had made it large enough to stand and walk (or in this case run) in. Johnny neglected sneaking upstairs to the main floor, he simply continued to run.

"Stop making so much noise!" Yelled Squee's father from the study. "It reminds me you exist!" Ah, the familiarity of it all. He hurried further up, to the second staircase and down the hall to where Squee slept.

"Squee?" Johnny called in a whisper, somehow remarkably remembering that he was in someone else's house. His narrow fingers extended, grasping for the doorknob with a sort of anxiety. The knob turned, slowly at first, but once it was opened Nny did not hesitate in pushing it open.

"N...Nny?" Questioned the overly sleepy voice of Squee. (It was, after-all, just after 2:45 in the morning...) A bemused smile rested upon Johnny's lips as he approached the bed. Squee sat up straight, frightened it seemed.

"Hello." Johnny whispered, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

"...What do you want?" The small boy asked cautiously as he stifled a yawn. Johnny blinked a few times, how could he explain it?

"I wanted to check up on you." Was the response he went with, though it followed a rather lengthy pause.

"Shmee says you had a bad dream. I heard you screaming." Johnny glared at the bear, tempted to rip him from Squee's hands and tear his filthy lying head off... Though this time he had told the truth... Meh, minor details.

"Well... I did." Was all that Johnny could find to respond with, his tone heightened slightly just in case the bear decided to spread more wicked lies.

"I'm glad." Squee whispered, Johnny raised an eyebrow, wondering why on earth this boy would want him to have nightmares. It seemed rather odd to him. "Not just because you have nightmares..." It was creepy when Squee was psychic too. " but because I've been having bad dreams too." One may think that this should have been shocking, but Johnny seemed less than disturbed. He knew that small children had nightmares, and that he had them every time that he slept. He and Squee were bound to have nightmares at the same time at some point.

"Are they really bad, bad dreams?" At the question Squee cuddled closer to Shmee.

"Really bad dreams."

"Dreams can't hurt you though." Responded Nny reassuringly, patting the boy on the head. 'Unless of course your dreams are premonitions of ghosts, but in that case it really isn't the dreams, it's the ghosts that control them, so I suppose my logic is okay...' His thoughts were rather amusing to him, but he hoped that the younger boy hadn't been able to hear them. It was absurd, to think that the boy could have been able to, but still, one never knows.

"The zombies said they can." Johnny laughed a bit, smiling his wicked grin that can only be considered a smile when it isn't malicious.

"Zombies eh? You can't listen to a word they say, they speak nothing but lies."

"Shmee says they're going to kill me. He says that they're mad at you and that they're going to kill me." Squee bit his lower lip, then continued chewing it thoughtfully as he pondered his next few statements. "Shmee says that they're gonna' make -you- kill me... Shmee says that you're evil and that he's going to absorb you after I'm dead." Squee glanced down at the bear for a few moments and sighed. "He says you smell funny too." This took a while for Johnny to intake, but after it all sank in he held nothing more than contempt for that demon bear. ...He did not smell funny.

"Do you believe that lying, filthy, conniving hellspawn bear?" His words, of course, not being bias in the slightest bit. (Sarcasm)

"I don't know. I don't think you're evil, you're just bad." That response was for Nny a mix between amusing and offensive.

"Squee." Began Johnny, he was finally starting to show signs of concern about the dreams. "Tell me about your dreams."

"Well... I start out in this strange house. It's empty and I can hear screams from the basement. The windows are all boarded up, and this big wall is this deep red. It's like the color is going to just swallow me whole. This scary looking doughboy thing always finds me when I think I'm going to be sucked in all the way. He tells me where Shmee is. Tonight Shmee was upstairs. I went to get him like usual, but when I did... I went upstairs to the bedroom and there, lying on the bed, is Shmee. He gets up, walks over to me, and then something big and heavy hits me on the head" Squee stopped suddenly, his eyes wide and terrified were fixed upon the doorway. "D-D-Daddy..."

"Who are you?" Came a voice, a very familiar one, the one that had so frequently yelled profanities and other degrading remarks at Johnny's friend. Nny flashed Squee the same malevolent grin that stretched from ear to ear and then turned.

"I'm an angel." Johnny stated simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You don't look like an angel."

"If I looked like an angel I would have seventy hobos climbing on me, begging for wishes. Now go back downstairs and leave your son and I to talk or I will use my holy magic and summon God(tm). You don't want me to wake him." It was a rather amusing threat, truth be told, but even more amusing were the series of arm/hand gestures that followed. They were intended to look 'mystical', and in a sense they -did- work... Yet in the same regard it was all quite ludicrous.

"You're right."

"Of course I am, I'm an angel." The man nodded and turned to leave. Once he was gone and Johnny heard his footsteps creak the last creaks that signified that he was once again in the lower hallways he laughed. "Squee, is your father always this mentally disabled, or is it just the way he is at 3 in the morning?" Squee shrugged, cuddling closer to Shmee still. "So anyway, on with your dream. You get hit on the head..."

"And it hurts... Then I wake up and I'm hooked to this thing and it drips this red stuff. It looks really weird and Shmee's too far away for me to reach. I always start crying after a while because he's calling for help and then tonight you came out of my house... You start screaming. Then I wake up and I hear you, and you're really screaming."

"But you were talking about zombies!"

"Yeah, there are zombies all around in my dreams. This time they were all around. I guess the dream-you couldn't see them, but they were all around the grass. They all crowded around you and you looked at me... Then when I couldn't see you anymore, that's when I heard you scream." Squee blinked. "Why do you want to know?"

"How many were in the yard?"

"I asked my question first... but...there were...about...fifteen? I'm not sure..."

"Fighting zombies is bad, but fighting zombies you can't see..." Thinking out loud when there are small children present is never a good idea, but especially not when the small child is Squee.

"Johnny!" Squealed Squee. "What's going on!"

Here, my children, we have reached a milestone. Someone has asked Johnny the Homicidal Maniac what is going on. What makes this remarkable? Someone being killed in the immediate vicinity is not the reason why. Amazing.

_Yeah, so the chapter wasn't complete, still isn't, but I ended it in that way so that I can listen to people rant about how everyone is out of character..._

_FYI for those that intend to flame about Johnny being out of character..._

_I know, shut up._


	3. Oh My

(Hello, it's me again. This chapter has really come out of sheer obligation. I want to get more up, but I'm afraid that I'll have to rewrite the first two chapters. Why? People are out of character, or at least partially. Johnny doesn't go into any little rants about anything…I'll just have to make up for lost time in the next chapter. (That one I'm -really- looking forward to) Thanks for your time.)

Oh My

Johnny was prepared to answer the questions, but there was a slight flaw in his plan, for he had nothing to say, nothing to push aside the smaller boy's fears with. NNY had never been one for comforting anyone, but he felt obligated to do something about Squee's fright.

"I don't know." Johnny stated flatly. "But I think that we need to find out..." 'Brilliant deduction.' He thought bitterly, wondering partially why he bothered at all. "I need to ask somone who would know."

"...Johnny...I'm scared..." Johnny blinked a few times.

"That's the first time you've called me by my full name."

"I'm sorry?" Johnny shrugged in a nonchalant manner. Squee shrugged slightly in return, an endearing gesture that was made all that much more so by his adorable yawning. A faint smile, a genuine smile. One of the few he'd shed. Today was full of firsts, in a while at least.

"I should let you get to sleep... You need the rest..."

"I can't."

"Why not? You're tired and you need the rest."

"I'm scared."

"Why?"

"I don't want to die."

"Dying isn't so bad, besides, sleep can't kill you."

"Zombies will." Squee responded, his tone matching the bitterness in Johnny's thoughts moments before.

"But there aren't any, just in your dreams."

"That's enough for me." Squee muttered, his tones sounding more frightened than they had, they'd lost their bitter edge. Suddenly, a slight bit of inspiration struck NNY.

"What does Shmee have to say about this?"

"He says that I should go with you." When Squee said this you could have heard a pin drop, or at the very least heard Nny's jaw drop. First because it was so quiet, secondly because he had not heard Shmee say anything, and thirdly because Shmee hated him. "He says that he has business with D-boy. Who is D-boy Nny?"

"Squee, if you come with me, Shmee has to stay here. Shmee and D-boy won't get along and I don't want Shmee getting hurt..." It was amusing how easily the lies came, how easily he could decieve.

"Okay." Responded the tiny boy, climbing out of bed and placing the bear amoung his pillows. "Be a good bear Shmee. Just pretend that I'm going to skool, it'll be okay." He smiled at the bear before he extended a sleepy hand to Johnny.

"That's it? You're willing to come with me? You've seen what I do, you know of all the people that I've killed, all the people I've hurt, everything, and you're still willing to come? Despite how you and the rest of the world fear me? Why would you do such a thing? Why would you go against Shmee's thoughts of me before? How can you allow yourself to look beyond your fear of me in order to face a greater fear? You're far too young to know the difference between levels of fear, but I assure you that I am very high on that list, how can yo"

"You aren't as scary as Pepito and his family, and Shmee's a bad judge of character, you should hear what he says about Mommy and Daddy."

"What's so bad about Pepito's family?" Nny questioned, an eyebrow raising along with the rest of him as he stood. His long fingers extended towards Squee's and he took the boy's hand gingerly, as if he was afraid that he would break it.

"Well, his dad is the devil, so their basement is scary." Johnny blinked a few times, far more than was utterly necessary.

"You've been in Satan's HOUSE!" Squee simply shrugged his tiny shoulders, releasing Johnny's hand to retrieve a small canvas bag, but his hand returned a few moments later.

"It isn't as creepy as you might think, except for the basement, they have cable."

"Where is it? I can ask him if he knows anything about"

"It's late Nny, let's just go sleep." He yawned and began groggily walking across his room's floor, futility leering over his attempts to bring Johnny with him.

"The window is faster."

"It's a second story window NNY." Squee said in a sleepy, yet still 'hushstupid' tone.

"That hasn't stopped me before. What's in the bag?"

"Stuff, now let's get going... How am I supposed to get down?"

"The door. I have a feeling, call it an instinct, that your Mommy and Daddy won't mind. I'll go down like usual." Johnny smiled his sort of evil grin. "You head down first." A slight tremor of fear found its way down the small boy's spine.

"Okay NNY. Just promise me something first..."

"What? I'm not making any promises that I can't keep Squee."

"Promise you won't kill me." The way in which NNY's face fell proclaimed that he was hurt by the command, but still he nodded.

"I promise that I won't kill you Squee."

"Good. I'll see you outside Johnny." Squee giggled as he said the name, pleased with himself for having the courage to say it again. Once the boy was out of the room, Johnny strode over to the bed once more. He picked up Shmee by the neck and held him high, at eye level.

"All right Mr. Bear-Bear, we have some business to discuss."

The following morning came without incident, as NNY had predicted Squee's parents seemed rather nonchalant about the whole ordeal. Squee had curled into a tiny ball upon NNY's bed, clinging to a small plush rabbit that he'd had in his bag. Johnny stayed awake, he spent much of his night explaining why Squee was there to D-boy, and then Eff, and then to both of them at once. D-boy still had yet to forgive NNY for throwing the knife at him... Well, pinning him to the wall. He had a large divide in his face.

"Are you going to feed him to the wall?"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO FUCKING TELL YOU D-BOY! I'M NOT FUCKING FEEDING THE GOD-DAMNED WALL ANYMORE!"(Ahem..emphasis..)

"...That makes twice." Johnny calmed slightly.

"Twice too many."

"But then you wouldn't have told"

"SILENCE!"

"Johnny, you've woken him."

"SILENCE! I WOULD NOT HAVE WOKEN HIM IF YOU HADN'T MADE ME YELL!"

"Good morning NNY." Said a very sleep Squee. "Why were you yelling?"

"How did you get out of my room?"

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was."

"No it wasn't."

"Yes it was-" interjected Eff. "I unlocked and opened it."

"Why would you do that? -How- would you do that?"

"...Because." This was by no means a suitable answer, but Johnny found himself accepting it, more or less due to the terrified expression upon Squee's face.

"It's one of them. The ones from my dreams... The doughboys.." Johnny's eyes rolled in an exasperated manner, as rolling eyes typically do.

"Yes yes, this is Mr. Eff and the other is D-boy. What about them?"

"Don't you hear what they're saying?" The boys glanced back and forth at one another, spiral eyes meeting blank ones, their eyebrows shooting upward. "They're talking about you and me... They're talking about killing us off and being free..." Squee's eyes were rounded, wide, terrified. "They're just talking to themselves, they knew you couldn't hear and they thought that I could not..."

"He speaks lies NNY." Stated D-boy.

"Nothing but horrible lies." remarked Eff.

"You should kill him." D-boy added.

"Let him help you paint."

"They're trying to scare me away now, they're saying the most horrible things..."

"Johnny, you should do something about those two. The boy is right. Now you have another telling you the truth about them! This is just like when they tore me from the wall, they're trying to take over your life, take over you!"

"Shut up Rabbit!" Snapped Eff.

"This does not concern you!" Hissed D-boy.

"I hate to interrupt your yelling about me, but it seems that both Squee and Johnny have left..."

Yay for stealthy escapes. 


End file.
